Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Shuksan North Face Descent

Last Friday my brother, Booth, and I went and skied the North Face of Mt. Shuksan after skinning up the White Salmon Glacier. Conditions were great, with plenty of well-bonded powder and only a few small windslabs right over the lee side of ridges.

The snowpack this winter in The Cascades is average or above average above 5,000 ft., but drastically below average below 5,000 ft., where, unfortunately, some of our approach route went. Classic sub-alpinism:

Mt. Baker, with Shuksan Arm in the foreground:

Booth breaking trail above Winnie's Slide:

The summit pyramid is looking rather Patagonian at the moment:

Booth traversing across the upper Hanging Glacier to access the top of the North Face:

I took my helmet cam skiing for the first time, and made a little video of the descent:http://www.vimeo.com/10376619